Cons

Bottom Line

Snapchat's troubled history and some iffy video chatting, overshadows this unabashedly bold, young, and unique application for free image- and video-sharing on iPhone.

July 8, 2016Max Eddy

While the old folks pine for days gone by, the youth of today aren't interested in memories. Instead, they favor sharing the moment, and few apps do that better than Snapchat. In addition to quickly and easily sharing pictures, this excellent iPhone app also has powerful text and live video messaging. It has also recently expanded to become more like a traditional social network, with a new Memories feature that can save your formerly ephemeral images. Whether the flighty photo app survives this transition is yet to be seen, but it's still an app that defines this moment in time.

Like most social networking apps, Snapchat is free, and I had no trouble installing it on my iPhone 6. Setting up a new account was a snap when I did it several years ago, so I simply logged in using the credentials I saved to LastPass.

The early iterations of Snapchat were a bit overwhelming, with a navigation system as unique as an ephemeral messaging platform was at the time. The app's aesthetic is still bright and unabashedly young, but it's now much easier to navigate. Perhaps that's why your parents are using it now. Icons on the left and right of the camera screen make it easier to figure out where you're going. But it still frequently feels esoteric. I have been using Snapchat for years, and I'm still uncertain I know every trick and feature.

Secret Snaps and Vanishing VideoSnapchat is focused on quickly sharing videos and pictures—called snaps—so it's no surprise that you begin your Snapchat experience on the viewfinder screen. The interface is simple, with a large shutter button in the center and a button that toggles between front and rear cameras in the upper right. Tap the shutter button to take a snap, or press and hold it to shoot 15 seconds of video. I particularly like the ability to tap the screen and refocus while filming.

Recipients view snaps or videos by tapping the screen. Once you tap the screen to view the snap, a counter in the corner runs down the time remaining to view the snap. Yes, they can take screenshots during this time. Don't miss your chance to see the image. Note that once a video finishes playing, it vanishes.

Other options, such as filters and text toggles, are hidden until you need them, as is the ability to download an image you just took—hey, you might want it later! The most important tool is a clock at the bottom, which you use to set a lifespan for your image. This is the app's original killer feature; your pictures are only accessible to recipients for as long as you allow them (unless they grab a screenshot, of course). You can choose a lifespan of one to ten seconds.

You can swipe in one of six filters only after you take a snap, but be warned that these are lackluster compared with what you find on Instagram or Flickr. You can also add captions over the image in a few, limited styles, or you can doodle in a set of vibrant colors. Only a few filters affect the actual color of your image; the others overlay time, temperature, or the current speed at which you are traveling. This last one presumably uses GPS data, as Snapchat requires location information. You can swipe in these filters for video, too.

Snapchat has opened its filters up to advertisers, so you can add some goopy Kellogg stuff to your images. Filters specific to your locale are also becoming quite common; it's a fun surprise when you're traveling across the country, for example.

At first blush, video on Snapchat might seem extremely limited. You won't, for example, find editing options such as those in Vine or Instagram. Nor can you stream live video to all your followers at once, as you can with Twitter's Periscope and Facebook's latest live video feature. But there is a neat semi-hidden feature: Tap and hold the screen and the app quickly scans your face. Then, swipe in special interactive video overlays called Lenses. These add doggy ears, cop paraphernalia, and even a stream of rainbow vomit to your visage, moving with you in real-time. It's extremely silly, but wholly unique to Snapchat. Note that the lenses are different on Android and iOS versions of the app.

A warning: If you take a screenshot, Snapchat will send a message to the snap's sender. I really like this feature, which is also offered by Confide.

That ChatRecipients find your snaps in their inbox, just to the left of the viewfinder screen. Here, snaps, videos, and text messages are stored as threaded conversations. Swipe right to reveal the time of your last interaction with the friend in question, and further right to open a chat window with this Snapchat pal. You can send text, snaps, or videos directly from this screen, too.

Snapchat has greatly simplified the chat interface, making it much more, well, usable. Instead of startling your friend with a live video bubble, you can now request a video or voice call. Both use a special dialer screen that lets the recipient accept your call, reject it, or accept it without turning on audio for when you can see and hear but can't talk. You can now also chat directly in the video stream with the words and stickers superimposed over the video.

The video quality will surely vary with device and network availability. However, I was disappointed in the quality of test calls between my iPhone 6 and a Nexus 5X over a FiOS Wi-Fi connection. This is probably as close to ideal circumstances as the average user is likely to encounter, and it was still laggy and pixelated.

Also new in Snapchat are stickers. These are colorful images that you drop into text messages, similar to emoji but with more variation. I am, generally speaking, pro-sticker, but the Snapchat stickers leave something to be desired. They are appropriately colorful and cute, but Facebook has many more stickers available, covering everything from Adventure Time to a Japanese businessman with a fish for a head. Though Telegram is best known for its secure messaging, it also supports user-made stickers, making for an incredible if somewhat bewildering experience.

Memories, Stories, and ChannelsStories are collections of snaps and videos that your friends can view during a 24-hour window, slideshow-style. Posting to a story is simple; just select the Story option instead of another Snapchat user after you've taken a photo or a video. Keep in mind that you only get one story, and a global setting controls who can see it. You can select a group of people (or one person), or only your friends, or any Snapchat user.

And no social network would be complete without a platform for content creators! In Snapchat, several news and entertainment creators have special channels to run videos and images.

The Memories feature lets you search for old snaps you've taken in the app. Swipe up and you'll see all your old snaps, complete with filters and other adornments. You can share these as you would a fresh photograph, or add them to a new Story. I know, this seems totally counter-productive for Snapchat. Much op-ed ink has been spilled on the nature of Snapchat's popularity, and the general consensus seemed to be that millenials appreciated the disposable nature of snaps less for security and more for ease of use.

But Snapchat has grown. It's easier to use, has many more features, and offers content beyond blurry selfies. The company seems to understand that if it wants to stay relevant, it can't just be another gimmicky service (I'm looking at you, Yo) and needs to attract and retain more users. And that, in this case, means having more of a memory.

How well the new Memories feature and its built-in search works will have to remain a topic for another day. As of this writing, Snapchat is rolling out of these features slowly. I'll update the review as soon as it reaches my iPhone.

Trust and SecuritySexting initially put Snapchat in the limelight, but repeated security problems have brought it back more than once. First, it was because images weren't really being deleted from Snapchat's servers. Next, millions of users had their data exposed by a security flaw. Later, the FTC settled its case with Snapchat over false claims of security and demanded that the company be monitored by independent security experts for the next 20 years.

Snapchat definitely has an uphill climb to win back my trust, especially when the darling of mobile chatting, WhatsApp, has undergone a radical transformation from privacy pariah to security haven. WhatsApp announced that its partnership with WhisperSystems, the creators of the secure messaging app Signal had borne fruit and now every message, group message, and shared file were encrypted end-to-end.

If you're looking for the Snapchat experience, but would rather not take your chances with security, consider Editors' Choice winners Wickr and Telegram. Both put emphasis on encryption, and both offer modes in which your messages can only be read by specific recipients on specific devices. Best of all, they also offer a self-destruct option for messages, just like Snapchat does. That way, you get all the ephemerality but with more security.

Since Snapchat is so associated with sexting, it seems appropriate to say one last word about security and sexting. To my mind, there's nothing wrong with sending saucy photos. We already live so much of our lives online, it makes sense that sexuality has become a part of our digital lives as well. If you're going to sext, however, make sure you do it safely, with permission, and with someone you trust. In short, practice safe sexting.

To that point, the new Memories feature lets you mark images as For My Eyes Only, which hides them from other people browsing through your memories. I'll definitely be looking to see how well this feature works when it becomes available.

Less Fresh but Still SnappySnapchat deserves a lot of credit for succeeding in the post-Facebook world where so many others had failed. Its deft combination of a devil-may-care attitude and a stupefyingly unique interface that seemed designed to push out the old and unworthy helped make it what it is today. In all likelihood, it will be a touchstone to a generation.

And while it would be easy to dismiss the app as "selling out" with improved navigation and its Memories feature, this seems premature. The app is still, at its core, fast and simple, and that's all it has ever been.

So while you should definitely follow PCMag on Snapchat, and you should send me some snaps if the spirit moves you, I'm going to stick with Facebook Messenger for most of my mobile chatting. And when I need security, I'll turn to Signal and Editors' Choice winners Wickr and Telegram.

About the Author

Max Eddy is a Software Analyst, taking a critical eye to Android apps and security services. He's also PCMag's foremost authority on weather stations and digital scrapbooking software. When not polishing his tinfoil hat or plumbing the depths of the Dark Web, he can be found working to discern the 100 Best Android Apps.

Prior to PCMag, Max wrote for the International Digital Times, The International Science Times, and The Mary Sue. He has also been known to write for Geek.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @wmaxeddy. See Full Bio